As you know our state is in danger of being destroyed by the extraction of natural gas that has been found within the Marcellus Shale.&
The people of PA have to deal with it everyday,
right in our backyards. Get nothing out of it.
The land we pay taxes on! the land we've grown up around.
The Gas Companies practically pay nothing, but they make billions!

Did you know that underneath the Marcellus Shale they found oil in the Utica Formation.

How Precious Is Your Water To You?!

Note:Pennsylvania and its wilderness / water supply is in danger, because of the natural gas industry.
Please take action and educate yourself on this destructive process of natural gas extraction known as hydraulicfracturing.
Join the RDA.org (its free!) & the Sierra Club (or just take action, its easy!)
Contact your legislatures & senators to enforce protective law for PA.
Please visity my Marcellus Shale page to learn more about the DANGER Pennsylvania is in.

* Click on any of the links to be taken directly to that piece of information

What is the Marcellus Formation?

The Marcellus Formation is a black shale formation that is located beneath the Appalachian basin and most of Pennsylvania at a depth of about 4,000 - 10,000 ft. (but not everywhere and not always). The formation / shale got its name from the distinctive outcropping of shale rock in Marcellus, NY. This formation of shale is predicted to contain the largest source of natural gas in America. Experts estimate the shale contains upwards of 500 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas. However the recovery of the gas will be much lower, experts estimate 50 tcf would a more realistic number for extraction.

Shale gas aka "natural gas"
is a natural resource that is trapped within shale formation at the microscopic level. Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that can be rich in petroleum and natural gas, both of which are energy sources for the United States.

Here is a nationwide map of the lower 48 states that contain shale gas. Before the discovery of the Marcellus Formation and the estimated 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas contained within it. The largest producer of natural gas came from the Barnett Formation located in Texas.

More than 72% of the largest watershed (Susquehanna River Basin) in the state is located within the Marcellus Shale Formation. What does this mean? Remember that the average well requires 4-8 million gallons of water to frack. Fracking can occur up to 16x for one well. .5% - 2% of that fluid is made up of hazardous chemicals and tons of sand. How many homes feed off of the Susquehanna? Are you worried about your water? You should be since only 15% of the fluids are recollected within 8 weeks. What happens to the remaining 85%?

What is Natural Gas?

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is a mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons associated with petroleum deposits, but primarily comprised of methane . There is basically two types of methane, bigenetic which contains very small amount of ethane. The 2nd type of methane is thermogenic, which also contains ethane and heavier hydrocarbons such as: propane, butane, pentane, and hexanes. The thermogenic methane is the gas extracted for fuel.
Natural gas is often promoted as "cleaner" than coal, but which has its own serious environmental hazards like lead, mercury, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, radioactive radon
and other toxic contaminants that can be found bound to the natural gas. This form of energy still needs to undergo processing to remove all the materials other than the fuel itself. Did you know that methane can be up to 25 times more potent & dangerous than CO2.

What is Hydraulic Fracturing?

Hydraulic Fracturing (hydro fracking) is the process of fracturing rock to extract fuels such as petroleum and natural gas. The basic steps of hydraulic fracturing are listed below:

A hole is drilled deep into the earth's crust

Explosive charges are set off at various points (wherever needed to fracture the rock)

Fracking fluid is dispensed down the bore hole at high pressures (the pressure is directly related to the size, depth of hole, type of rock and what materials are being extracted)

The fluid is used to further penetrate the rock causing additional cracks

The fluid also contains many compounds needed to aid the "props" allowing the gas and more of it to escape

There are at least 12 different categories of chemicals used for various purposes in hydraulic fracturing

Total chemicals used are in the hundreds

At least 85 are harmful to humans

The sand, ceramic beads and other materials serves the purpose as a "prop" or proponent which keeps the cracks open and to help fill the voids

Gas Mixtures can also be used to fracture the rock, this method is not near as popular as the liquid method.

What Kind of Chemicals are in Fracking Fluid?

Here's a list of some of the chemicals compiled by the DEP's Oil & Gas Management for PA.
Click the picture above to view the PDF.

Disclosed list of some of the chemicals for New York State.
Look to pages (5-35 - 5-66) in the PDF document
Click the pictures above to view the PDF.

List of
Some of the Hydraulic Fracturing Ingredients that Make up .5 - 2% of the 2 - 9 million gallons of water

Acid: Hydrochloric acid or
muriatic acid. Helps dissolve minerals and initiate cracks in the
rock. Used as a swimming pool chemical and cleaner.

Ethylbenzene
* So poisonous that one drop pollutes thousands of gallons of water
* EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL's) acceptable in drinking water..
.07 ppm (parts per million) {not even one drop} or
1 drop per 572 gallons

Arsenic
* So poisonous that one drop pollutes thousands of gallons of water
* EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL's) acceptable in drinking water..
.01 ppm (parts per million), not even one part per million! or
1 drop per 4,000 gallons

Benzene
* So poisonous that one drop pollutes thousands of gallons of water
* EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL's) acceptable in drinking water..
.005 ppm (parts per million) or 5 ppb (parts per billion) or
1 drop per 8,000 gallons

Naphthalene
* EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL's) acceptable in drinking water..
Don't know, this must be a mix of some stuff?

Trimethylnapthalene
* EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL's) acceptable in drinking water..
Don't know, this must be a mix of some stuff?

Methanol
* Oral: 143 mg/kg is the toxicological level for humans
Inhalation; 300 ppm is the toxicological level for humans

Hydrochloric Acid
* 5 ppm is the exposure level

Ethanol
* 1,000 ppm is the exposure level

Glycol
* impairs and damages the CNS

* Up to 154 hazardous contaminants used in hydro fracking in the state of NM
*
Up to 85 hazardous chemicals used in hydro fracking in the state of PA

Records show that formaldehyde, a human carcinogen, benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, acids, arsenic, and pesticides that are toxic to wildlife, aquatic life, domestic animals and humans are added to the fracking fluid

Can't afford to rent, due to local landlords driving the rental price up

Backpacking / Hiking / Snowmobiling / 4-Wheeler Trails

Loss of trail access to some

Trail interruption due to access road, gas wells, etc..

Both ear and eye noise

Decrease in recreational activities

Local Farmers & Landowners

Destruction of their property

Loss of farming land

Disruption of wildlife on their land

Migration of methane gas to their lands and water wells

State Forest & Parks

2.1 million acres of state forest lands exist in the state of PA

1.6 of it is in the Marcellus Fairway (71%)

700,000 acres are being leased to the Gas Companies (47%)!!!

Guess where most of those leases exist?!

Right in the heart of the back country

In some of the most beautiful lands of PA (The very areas I love to explore, the area I live in, the areas backpackers from all over the state and country come for some adventure, the Black Forest Trail, the Susquehannock Trail, the Loyalsock Trail & the West Rim Trail just to name a few.)

Over the past 200 years bituminous coal has been extracted from the lands of PA

Did you know that nearly 1/4 of all coal mined and used in the US came from PA?

What happened during and what is happening since?

They came, they decimated the lands and we are still feeling the affects of it

Acid Mine Drainage is still rampant in streams around the state

The same thing is going to happen, but on a much larger scale (I really hope I am wrong!)

Richer people will get wealthier

Poor people will have less

Some will benefit (those who are fortunate enough to have the land the companies want to drill on) most will not!

Human Health
Concerns

Unexplained Illnesses

Rise in Cancer Rates

Rise in Crime Rate

Rise in Vandalism

Rise in Daily Stress Levels

The List Goes On & On

Loss of local town character due to rapid growth

Please Read Before You Criticize My Views

As you have gathered, I am not an advocate of the natural gas extraction process currently used in the state of PA and 38 other states. The negatives far outweigh the positives (both in short and long-term), do the research, read the articles, watch the documentaries, watch the videos on the Internet from landowners and research the 37 other states that have experienced this invasive process. It's quite clear, but I will post the positives too.

Please understand I am not against the extraction of natural gas, we could use it as a nation to: reduce our carbon output, reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, boost our economy, profit local businesses, financially help struggling farmers, landowners, but the rules and regulations are not stringent enough to make it safe with little impact on us and the environment. Our state jumped into it too soon! We need to look to other extraction processes (CO2 or Nitrogen), we need to limit the permits given, we need to do the research. We as a state could use the funds, but currently we are not receiving any real revenue.

The problem with a severance tax is the money generated from the gas extraction would be placed into the states "general funds," which means the areas directly impacted by the gas exploration would not benefit. Why? The majority of the money would be allocated to big cities such as: Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. Yes, that is a bummer for our local areas, which need it more any anywhere else, but if that's the only way we can receive money from these Gas Companies than so be it! We all pay taxes, so that has to benefit all residents of PA someway.

We don't know the long-term affects of the gas drilling voids, cracks, fissures, chemical leaching, etc.. The list go's on and on.

Positive Points to the Natural Gas Extraction in PA:

Fracking Chemicals

None

Extracted fluids after fracking process

Reused where possible

Recycle what they can (but there is controversy on whether or not the fluid is "cleaned" well enough)

Truck Traffic

Roads are repaved by the Gas Companies, but think about it, they are doing this not only for you, but they need to use the road too

Local Rivers and Creeks

None

Well Sites

Several wells can be drilled using one pad, but of course the size of the pad and the gas deposits beneath directly affect this

The companies must bring in top soil, plant grass & trees to reduce the footprint

Bored holes are encased in concrete (concrete cracks and breaks apart of time)

Bored holes are drilled to depths of thousands of feet

Access Roads

None

Pipelines

None

Wildlife

None

Air Quality

Natural Gas is a cleaner burning fuel source compared to coal and oil

Results in a reduction of greenhouse gases and acid rain

Reduction of sulphur and nitrogen oxides released into the air from petroleum-based energy sources

Jobs

60% of the new jobs created from this gas exploration are PA residents

Increased business for local businesses

Backpacking / Hiking / Snowmobiling / 4-Wheeler Trails

None

Local Farmers & Landowners

Hard working farmers now have the opportunity to get out of debt and make some money for all their hard work

Local landowners that may have been struggling financially are now able to breath

State Forest & Parks

Money received from leases on state forest lands helps to pay for maintenance of the parks and forests

Local Homeowners

There may at some point in time be a reduction in property tax (but I doubt it)???

The Price of Gas

Has droppped significantly since the Natural Gas Boom

Video's

Just Go to YouTube & type anything in about the Marcellus Shale and Natural Gas Drilling or Hydraulic Fracturing, There is hardly anything good to say about it!

Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition - The Gas Drilling Awarness Coalition, Inc. of Luzerne County, based in Dallas, PA, is a not for profit community educational association, whose members are concerned with the negative effects of the Industrial Process of Drilling for Natural Gas in PA. We are citizens from all walks of life.

We Need to Make a Difference! Change Will Not Occur Without the Help of Us!

*Please, if this site as helped you in anyway and you would like to give back, donate by clicking the link found on the bottom left navigation bar. It takes many hours to update, post, check the data and its accuracy. Any contributions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Last Updated: August 6, 2013

Disclaimer
*Please remember, the information posted on this page and all other pages can & probably will change. I assume no liability for accidents happening to, or injuries sustained by, readers who engage in the activities posted on my entire website including links. Remember, you are responsible for your own actions, please understand conditions on the trail, in the woods or on the river can/will change due to mother nature. Please don’t assume I know all there is about such topics, unfortunately I do not. I am just posting my travels and opinions experienced out in the wilderness. I encourage you to read further and look to reliable resources like the PA Game & Fish Commission and the PA DCNR. Thank You.